Okay, well I'm happy it's at least just a placeholder. Sorry if I sounded cranky :P
The game looks very promising, and the idea of a shooter with a very zoomed out perspective seems novel, so I will definitely be following the development!
I think real cool thing would be randomized biomes. Right now every time you play the game, it's largely the same except for resource placement (island shape doesn't really matter). But if biomes were random, that would add some unpredictability and therefore replay value.
Yeah it's unlikely but it is, theoretically possible. I think biggest chance for this to happen is upgrading your pickaxe with full inventory - when you upgrade your pick it vanishes from your inventory. And if you have full inventory when upgrade is over, it would just fall on the ground.
I found a potential softlock - if you use Land as a bridge to the next island instead of Bridge, it is possible for a tree to spawn in the one-tile wide strip of land. And if it happens when you don't have a pickaxe on yourself... you're screwed.
I like it a lot! I think the only real issue is the fact that several times it's really hard to see what's below you, which I'm sure could be improved with better camera design. Still, pretty nice!
Have you considered compiling all Toree releases into some kind of single package? Like 1, 2, and the other level packs? Into some kind of "Toree Gold" release or something.
Yeah no, it's completely luck reliant. My first draw was 3,3,2,3 for orders and I got immediately stuck after first move. This game needs better board generation to ensure there are always possible moves.
Oh, I didn't know about the jam, that's so cool! I will try to at least do some art, maybe a themed Doom map (but that's a bit wishful thinking probably lol)
Avoiding spoilers to bystanders, in Index Page there is nothing revealed by True Sight. But one line of text next to Watcher seems like it was supposed to be revealed by True Sight but was accidentally written in regular white font.
One thing I am genuinely surprised by quickly reading and considering my experience in retro FPS is that most of them seem to be based around using movement for defense. While some retro FPS use cover to some degree, generally cover isn't as much of a focus like in modern shooters (thought cover is a mechanic in GRIM and dodging isn't). Instead the focus is usually on dodging projectiles (be it Imp fireballs in Doom or Cultist dynamite in Blood). Currently movement is purely tactical and about cover and sightlines.
I'm not sure how it could be implemented. One way I can think of is adding a Dodge mechanic, where you can end your turn with an un-used action. If you get attacked before your next turn, you can spend that action to Dodge it, giving enemy a disadvantage on that attack roll. (One action - one attack disadvantage) However if you won't get attacked the unused actions are wasted.
One advantage of setting it up like that is true to spirit of Quakes and Dooms, the Speed stat would become as valuable defensive tool as Armor (because it would give you free actions to burn).
Considering that Mourn and Grim share a lot of mechanics, would you consider turning this 'retro fps ttrpg' into a generic system with GRIM and MOURN being settings/sourcebooks?
I get that this game is trying to do something in a style of detective game like Hypnospace but honestly, puzzles feel kinda weird. It doesn't feel like there's any real challenge to them - basically it's like a place in the game asks you to input a word, and you find it elsewhere stated explicitly.
There is no real lateral thinking required, you just do what you're told to, going through the motions.
Like personally I found that to make a deduction puzzle, player should be forced to make a connection that isn't explicitly stated in the game. Hypnospace does it, Obra Dinn does it, every good detective game does it. Like, you're given a hint 1, a hint 2, and you have to make the connection between them yourself using real life knowledge.
The closest thing to lateral thinking is the childhood pet puzzle, but even then it feels bit too easy. You shouldn't be afraid to challenge the player a little bit, especially since you have a hint system.
The writing is decent enough because it's sorta funny. It's not amazing, like laugh out loud funny, but it's okay, and it really salvages the game.
This is my childhood right there. Also my first exposure to the idea of lesbian BDSM as a kid. Which probably explains why now I'm a trans lesbian into BDSM now.
I'm surprised that you removed so much options from the new versions, but I guess since you can just use 1.35 since it's still available that's okay.
1.35 is superior in many respects, including ability to auto-create palettes (which is useful if you're working with larger palettes like 256 colors), different types of dithering, more built-in palettes and in new version it seems dithering doesn't work at all in small pictures. But since you do provide the old version that doesn't matter much.
This is really cute! I really loved it! I think it'd be nice if your character moved a bit faster, and perhaps if there was an actual point (some kind of collectible reward) to optional terminals, but still, this was a really nice play!
Hm. I thought all user settings reset, but it seems only some of them do - onion skin settings and resized interface elements. I also can't reassign tool shortcuts. I guess I could open these as issues on GH.
It's not a dealbreaker, I still prefer it to other editors out there.
Everything inside of me as a designer yells that that's a terrible idea but I'm trying to be openminded. How do you prevent player from getting stuck in an unwinnable situation if patterns are random? It's a game with one hit kills and limited lives, and it might just downright not be your fault if you die and lose all your progress because all enemies randomly decided to surround you.
It's not what I'd personally call good game design but if your primary goal isn't to make a game that appeals to a modern audience with 'fun' but to simply make a clear homage to these games of old without concern of modern concepts of 'fairness' (which to be fair is a bit nebulous) then sure, more power to you.
I guess there's other revivals of classic isometric platform-adventures I can try, like Abbey of Crime, Naya's Quest, King Boo or Lumo.
It's probably not for me, but a lot of people in this comment section seem to love it, so good on you.
Am I missing something? It seemed to me as if enemy movements were completely random, which in a game with one-hit kills and limited lives is kinda insane. Isn't entire point of any platformer, isometric or not, is ability to predict timing of your enemies and obstacles so you can plan your movement? I haven't much experience with isometric platformers, but both Batman and Head Over Heels remakes had predictable and easily read enemy patterns - it was clear how to avoid them, the difficulty was in the execution (also in traps and puzzles).
The aesthetics are amazing and so is the idea, but I genuinelly cannot grasp enemy patterns.
I do not understand how this puzzle could ever possibly be solvable.